This section is intended to provide relevant background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the described embodiments. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light and not as admissions of prior art.
A reservoir volume through a parent well (“original well”) may be under sufficient pressure to flow fluids, such as oil, gas, and hydrocarbons, to a surface. As the fluids are produced, the pressure in the reservoir volume will often decline, and production from the parent well is reduced or halted. If an infill well, such as a child well, is completed before the reduced-pressure reservoir volume through the parent well is re-pressured, asymmetrical fractures from the child well may propagate in the direction of the parent well. In such cases, natural gas may be used to partially or fully re-pressurize the reduced-pressure reservoir volume.
A natural gas pipeline system begins at a natural gas producing wellhead or field. Transporting the natural gas used for re-pressuring from the wellhead to a point of use involves several physical transfers of custody and multiple processing steps. Depending upon the initial quality of the wellhead product, a pipeline gathering system directs the flow of the natural gas to a processing plant. During processing, the natural gas is subjected to various extraction processes to remove water and other impurities and contaminants. After cleaning, the natural gas is directed to a mainline transmission grid to be distributed to the point of use.
However, due to its volume, natural gas is not easily stored or moved by various modes of transportation, such as railways or tankers, and is usually transported through an extensive, yet complex, network of pipelines. The natural gas pipeline system in the United States alone includes 305,000 miles of interstate and intrastate transmission pipe, more than 1,400 compressor stations to maintain pressure of the network, and more than 11,000 delivery points, 5,000 receipt points, and 1,400 interconnection points to provide transfer of the natural gas.